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Adeje is the location for the first business accelerator event in the islands, with the Tenerife Launch48 Weekend for emerging businesses taking place on September 12 – 14.

“The objective is simple: pitch, build and launch”, is the slogan for the two day event which is hosted by FIT (Factory for Tourism Innovation) Tenerife, based in the Adeje centre for tourism development, the CDTCA. According to Adeje’s councillor for economic development and employment Ermitas Moreira García the weekend is designed to encourage new Canarian companies get off the ground with a supported start-up, using the innovate assessment offered by experienced business accelerator company Oxygen, one of the most important start-up groups in Europe.

The notion of using professional mentoring teams to accelerate business start-ups has taken root in major European cities and is using synergies, innovative ideas and creative directions to create new businesses. Different companies and sponsors can benefit hugely from these events and in this case the image of Tenerife as a technological and innovate hub as well as a tourist destination will also be promoted globally.

Prior to the weekend, from September 8th to 12th, there will be a pre-acceleration event held in the ITER bioclimatic village in Granadilla. The Oxygen organisers say, “ we’ll present a pre-accelerator programme that focuses on how you can take your start-up idea to the next level – while using our proven concoction of successful mentors, tools and board-level advice to help make your business a success. And of course, there’ll be some hidden surprises on the way, as we make the most of this unique location.”

A series of mentors will lead distinct groups through training sessions and work-shops, helping develop new means of negotiations, with personal one-to-one interaction and finishing with a jury selection of the best business proposal. The mentors include Chris Chabot, platform relations manager at Twitter, Nick Holzherr, from Whisk, named Birmingham Young Professional of the year in 2011, and Simon Jenner, CEO and co-founder of Oxygen Accelerator.

The events will, hopefully, encourage local business persons in Adeje to “present and develop innovative ideas, and the hope is that the ideas with the best business potential will receive all the support they need from the Adeje department of economic development”, said councillor Ermitas Moreira García.

Anyone interested in taking part or finding out more should contact the CDTCA, 922 756 249 or FIT Canarias, 922 756 253.

Last weekend the Adeje Council presented the XI Abinque prize to Brigitte Gypen in recognition of her work as founder and organiser of The Walk for Life/Carrera por la Vida

Last weekend the Adeje Council marked International Women’s Day with a number of different events, including the awarding of the Abinque Prize which went to Walk for Life organiser Brigitte Gypen. The award was made at a special gala dinner in the presence of 250 people.

The Mayor of Adeje José Miguel Rodríguez Fraga, congratulated the winner and paid tribute to her work over the years which have had such a positive affect on the local population. He said “to continue the march towards a society that is equal it is important to recognise the work of people who contribute to the betterment of our society. In the case of Brigitte Gypen we have a woman who is a defender of humanitarian work, and who helps women suffering from breast cancer and their families.”

Rodríguez Fraga continues, “we celebrate International Women’s Day, and we too, the men among us, must also be involved in this initiative because in the fight for equality everyone, men and women alike, have to put their shoulder to the wheel”. The mayor of Adeje also congratulated the work of the department of Equality and councillor, Juan Desiderio Afonso Ruiz.

For her part Brigitte Gypen said she was “delighted with prize which was, she said, an incentive to continue the work and the fight against breast cancer. This project was born out of a desire to help all those who have this disease..we want to ensure that they don’t feel alone in their fight.”

She added, “our main aim is to continue to increase early detection, encourage improved investigation, raise awareness among the general population that this disease knows no class, creed or colour boundaries and of course all the help we get is welcome”. She ended her acceptance speech by reminding people that this year will be the tenth Walk for Life and said they were preparing a very special event indeed.

The Adeje School of Music were also involved in this year’s ceremony, as one of their students, the young singer Luke Towler, surprised Brigitte Gypen with a live rendition of Walk for Life, the song he wrote that is now the anthem of the movement, much to the delight of the award winner, Luke’s mother Julie who was at the gala dinner and is herself a breast cancer survivor, and the audience in general. There was also an audio-visual presentation early in the evening which paid tribute to the work of Brigitte and all the individuals and organisations who have helped the Walk for Life become the event it is today.

Mujeres Adeje Creativa
There were other events taking place to mark International Women’s Day, one of which was the “Mujeres Adeje Creativa” collective, which brought together over one hundred female artists who came from all over the island – La Orotava, Santa Cruz, La Laguna, Granadilla, San Miguel, Santiago del Teide, Arona, Guía de Isora and of course Adeje. Students from the Adeje art courses organised annually by the Adeje People’s University also took part as well as students from the Los Olivos occupational centre.

The exhibition, on show in the Adeje cultural centre until March 26th, displays works in a number of disciples, painting, sculpture, wood, materials, crafts, photography, etc. The centre is open to the public from Monday to Friday from 8am to 9pm and entry to the exhibition is free.

The centre also hosted a talk on ‘Women in art by women’ given by art historian Elisa Falcón Lisón, looking at the central place of women in art over the different periods.

Adeje is the only Canarian region to have been awarded the title of “Science and Innovation Town”, a distinction issued by the national Economic Ministry this week.
The title recognises those Spanish councils who have worked particularly hard to use innovative methods to improve their overall character and offer within the professional and IT marketplace. According to Adeje mayor José Miguel Rodríguez Fraga, this title, only given to four Spanish regions overall, “is mertited and recognises the time spent on renovating and using innovative means” to upgrade the region. The mayor said that the introduction of fibre optic cables into all of the municipal centres and the digitilisation of the town’s archives were just some of the examples of the way the borough was moving with the times.
The title is given to towns and regions that have sucessfully applied the I+D+I (Investigation+development+innovation) concept and are creating opporunities for the use of science, new technology and innovation as an integral part of the town and borough’s operations. The other three regions to receive the title are A Coruña, Salinas in Alicante and Puerto Lumbreras in Murica.
The mayor has also recognised the excellent advances in this area by both pri
vate and public companies and businesses in Adeje. Among the borough’s achievements and campaigns that contributed to the awarding of the title were Adeje Impulsa, the CDTCA, the municipal fibre optic installation plan, the Creatic workshop, the Adejetec open days and the WAF architectural prize for the redesigned Plaza de España.